CHICAGO — The 82nd installment of a series in which artists send in a photo and a description of their workspace. Want to take part? Submit your studio — just check out the submission guidelines.
Carl Smith, Austin, Texas, (site)
I built my studio in my backyard in 2008. It is about 25 feet away from my main house and I have gotten used to being able to work from home. It cost $1,500 in materials to build and over the course of about four years I have insulated it, installed an air conditioning unit in it, put in two windows, and I have also routed electric and water to it. It is 8′ x 12’ so it is tiny. There is almost nothing good about this but I have tried to make the best of it. I can only really work on one painting at a time so I use the outside of the studio a lot to let paintings dry. I paint very messy and there is no way I could paint the way I do in my real house: my wife would kill me.
Jennifer King, Orange County, California (site)
My cozy work space is small, but I can fit my easel and comfy chair in it, and that is all I need! I have no storage space so I usually try to fit my work on the walls. There’s a window behind my chair which allows for natural light to paint by. My little red cabinet stores my oil paints, mediums, brushes, spray paint, and other supplies. My two cats — Hank and Sprinkles — keep me company while I work, usually listening to music from my laptop. I’ve kept my work small scale due to limitations with my space, but next year I plan on moving to a larger studio and utilizing some larger canvases.
Peter Miles Bergman, Denver, Colorado (site)
This is the half on the IS Home Office (IS being an acronym for Institute of Sociometry). It’s the shared home studio of two print makers and designers, Heather Link and me. This shot is of setting up the first of two colors for a run of block printing.
Because the studio is shared we keep the white table as an open work space — clean and able to be set up for whatever the current project is. Work in the home studio is combined with studio space at the Metro State Letterpress Lab where I am an assistant professor of Communication Design. The background is a wall collage of letterpress and printed ephemera.
Raul Gonzalez, San Antonio, Texas (site)
This is just a section of one of my three studios at the The University of Texas. It’s the primary space in which I work.
Joan Mellon, New York City, New York (site)
I have always worked where I live and I have always lived in New York City apartments. My entire home is my studio although I have designated one room for work, one for sleep/office, and another for relaxing, reading, recreation. I also have a kitchen and terrace.
Paintings and supplies are everywhere — on and against walls, in closets and drawers, under tables and stacked carefully on the floor. Because I live in the midst of all my stuff and space is limited, everything has its place. While I generally know where things are, a not remembered object always appears when searching for something. Almost everything in my studio is portable and either folds or is on wheels. The floor is covered with a canvas drop cloth that is duct tapped in worn out areas. Five movable 48″ x 72″ inch homasote panels for painting on stretched canvases (and storage behind) learn against the two long walls and I work on folding tables when making small paintings on wood panels and paper.
Although I always want more space, I am very happy in my middle of Manhattan home/studio of 22 years and have no plans to move — unless, of course, I win the lottery, which I almost never play.
